


If These Walls Could Talk

by NestPlaster



Category: House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
Genre: Animate Object, Cum Into The Abyss, Darkness, Footnotes, Found Footage, Horror, Moaning, Other, POV Second Person, architecture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 00:58:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9410522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NestPlaster/pseuds/NestPlaster
Summary: Archiving something I believe may have been lost to time (save for my own hard drive), please see the first chapter for details.





	1. Chapter 1

The narrative to follow was discovered by the "author" here in the earlier days of the internet. Something in this narrative captured my attention, and I recorded it as best I could at the time by using my browser to save a copy locally, mirroring the basic structure. Local files suggest this must have originally been hosted on Geocities1 sometime in 1990s2.

If this site was archived by anyone else, I do not know where -- it seems to have been missed by the Internet Archive project3, as so many of these early pages were.

This archive is one of the few things I have carried forward from computer to computer over the years, and I find it oddly compelling even today. Although the few images originally hosted have been lost, I have attempted to preserve the formatting as best I can while reproducing the text on this new archive.

It is my hope that the Organization for Transformative Works4 will take on the burden of carrying this text forward through time, and that I will no longer be the sole keeper of this information. Although I swear that the information in this introductary chapter is true, the remainder of the work might as well be considered fiction for the purposes of this archive, a fan extension of the events documented in The Navidson Record -- although no such claim was made when it was originally published.

If you are the original author or know them, please contact me. I have questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/1251/HOUSE.HTM  
> 2http://www.bladesplace.id.au/geocities-neighborhoods-suburbs.html  
> 3https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/1251/HOUSE.HTM5  
> 4http://www.transformativeworks.org/  
> 5There was no index or home file, and it is not clear how readers were intended to find this content in the first place. The Internet in this time period relied much more heavily on references and hyperlinks; perhaps another location contained a link to bring readers here.


	2. Chapter 2

You6 wake up in the night, not sure if you have slept or not. Moonlight illuminates the space, the light covers you kicked off earlier when you could no longer stand to be confined by them. Your wife7 slumbers to your side, slow breathing confirming that she has found the refuge of sleep.

You find yourself standing before the door, facing North8 against what should be the limit of your home. You know it is not. You do not remember how you got here, but you do remember feeling the wooden floor against your toes. You remember the subtle rough texture of the paint in the hallway, your fingertips brushing against it as you walked down the hallway. The texture of paint. You remember taking one step a little off center, so as not to allow the stairwell to creak. You are not sure how long you have stood here.

You reach forward, and feel the cotton of your pyjamas slide back across your arm. The hair is raised although the house is not that cool. The door handle is body temperature and your hand closes around it.9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6Presumably Will Navidson, although ultimately only the uniqueness of the structure ties this narrative to that of the Navidson Record.  
> 7Likewise, presumed to be Karen Navidson.  
> 8I recall this being consistent with an analysis of The Navidson Record read during my own brief obsession, although like so much early web content I can not seem to find the original site online today.  
> 9Originally the site navigation included left and right arrow graphics, however these were not preserved with the HTML content. There was also an icon of a house although rather than leading to an index, it simply returned the reader to this first page to re-start their journey. For the purposes of this archive, please use the site navigation provided by our host.


	3. Chapter 3

You have no choice, yet you make the conscious decision to step through the door.10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10Here, the markup9 was modified to remove the left arrow and "house" icons. Only a right arrow was presented to the user, leading to the next page11  
> 11Next Chapter in the design of this current host.


	4. Chapter 4

You12 step across the threshold and your bare feet touch on the cold13 ground. It is smooth and impossibly hard.

You step across the threshold and your eyes strain into the darkness. Your flashlight fights to illuminate the nearly black walls. You are not sure where the light ends and the darkness begins.

You step across the treshold and trail your left hand. You feel the surface cool. Your fingertips slide across the perfectly smooth surface. You can feel the blackness.

You do not have to reach back to know that the door will swing silently close behind you as the house takes you into its dark embrace.14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12The intent of the second person writing is not clear, and the sense of time and narrative flow seems intentionally relaxed in this document.  
> 13The lowered ambient temperature is well documented in research related to The Navidson Record.  
> 14Here the "house" icon returns along side the right facing arrow9, 10. However, rather than linking to the relative HOUSE.HTM file as on other pages, it links to a named15 anchor tag16 at the top of the current page. The left facing arrow remains absent.  
> 15Confusing, the named anchor was also defined as HOUSE.HTM  
> 16https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/links.html#edef-A


	5. Chapter 5

  
You stop in the Anteroom17 and stand with legs slightly spread and arms held out from your side. The space itself seems to caress your body. The still air slides across your skin like a lovers touch and you breath deeply of the chill air. There is no scent, no hint of humanity. You smell nothing but what you brought here18.

You carefully place the flashlight on the floor so that it rests against your foot, straighten, and unbutton your shirt. You feel pleasure in exposing more of your skin to the stillness and space of this place. The pale beam of light spilling across the floor from your feet fades effortlessly into the blackness of the floor, and your eyes hurt if you try to find an edge to the light.

The far wall is not visible.

The cotton fabric falls from your shoulders as you shrug out of the shirt19. You can not tell if the cascade down your back and arms is the fabric falling from your body, or the blackness falling over you in its place. Your nipples are hard, but not from the cold.

You close your eyes for a moment and listen to the silence. You sense the space surrounding you. When you open your eyes, the light is still there, and you bend to pick up the flashlight again.

In the distance you hear the first sounds. A low rumbling moan comes from all directions, faint but powerful. You step forward away from your discarded shirt and do not look back.20  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 17The common names between this document and The Navidson Record strongly hint that they refer to the same house and events, although there are puzzling differences in behavior.  
> 18Only the author (or the reader?)12 and a flashlight, unless this passage is meant to be read non-literally.  
> 19Clothing is compatible with night footage of Will Navidson, from The Navidson Record, although also quite common.  
> 20Here the navigation9 returns to normal until further note.


	6. Chapter 6

  
You walk through a series of hallways. Your feet slide comfortably against the smooth floor, yet you find no issues staying upright. You pass some entrances and move down others. You are pulled forward and feel a stirring beneath your waist as another low growl cuts through the air. How can a sound be far away yet also come from all directions?21  


  


  
You step forward into the Great Hall25 and walk towards the edge of the spiral staircase. Your light is fainter and you know the batteries should be replaced. You fear the light dying, and yearn for the darkness to embrace you.

At the edge of the stairs your light can not reach the walls or the ceiling. You stand on the floor and feel your cock press against confining fabric as you arch your back and close your eyes again. One toe creeps forward and teases the edge of the staircase, hanging out against that endless26 descent down into blackness.

You pull back slightly from the brink and step out of your pants. Standing naked in the darkness feels better. You nudge the discarded garment over the edge and it drops out of sight. Now it is you and the house. You imagine leaping over the edge, aiming for the midst of the staircase, for that great yawning hole that might swallow you forever. Your cock pulses heavy and erect in the cold air of the space.

You turn away from the stairs and allow your cock to lead you forward out of this space, a narrow passage accepting you both. You move deeper into the house.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 21The original layout was managed by a maze of tables22, transparant images23, and nested frames24. I have done my best to preserve the original layout of the material using the tools available here.  
> 22https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/tables.html#edef-TABLE  
> 23https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/objects.html#edef-IMG  
> 24https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/present/frames.html#edef-FRAME  
> 25Again17 names are common to The Navidson Record  
> 26Statement can neither be confirmed nor refuted by other evidence


	7. Chapter 7

You move now through narrow passages. Your shoulders brush the walls on each side as you press forward. The surface is smooth and cold. The ceiling is near if you glance up, but the passage always stretches forward beyond the limits of your light.

  
You occasionally slide through an arch in the sides of the passage, branching deeper. Each feels slightly tighter.

You can not possibly  
get any harder.27  


You squeeze into one a passage to the right. It is too narrow and you must shuffle forward sideways. Your toes and heels bump into the walls with each shuffling step. Your head nearly grazes the smooth darkness of the ceiling. Your cock stands erect, teased as it is jostled against the frictionless wall before you. Your flashlight hangs in your left hand, impossible to point forward. What little light finds its way before you reveals only featureless wall, featureless ceiling, featureless floor. You squeeze deeper and deeper. Your excitement grows.

You find yourself faced with a narrow passage. Far too narrow for your body.

Wide enough for one purpose.

You center yourself on the passage. It would be too dim to see the end, but you know there is none. Past that boundary there is no ceiling, no floor. You know the space opens up, yawning with a vastness to dwarf the other rooms you have explored.

It fits your cock like a glove and you press your hips against the smooth, unyielding walls. The cold only encourages greater heat to surge into your cock. The grinding roar is loud now, all around you. You can feel the walls press in to your sides, to your back. You can feel your pulse against the hard walls as you cum.

You hear your fluids fall into endless space

You feel complete. You would slump to the floor in exhaustion if there was room to move.

The walls moan and press harder against you.28  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 27Here the narrative, already off color, takes a decided turn from the tone of most documentation of The Navidson Record and the events of that house.  
> 28Knowing what we do of The Navidson Record it is clear that things do not end here. Perhaps this is a flight of fancy or a transformative work. Perhaps this is not the house in The Navidson Record, and is another location entirely. No clues were left to be found in the content I had retained. The only hint is that here, the navigation9 is modified one final time. The only icon left is the house.


End file.
